Dr. Tamara Collins-Parks
Dr. Tamara Collins-Parks (biliterate@gmail.com) coordinates PACT for the department. She has taught credential and masters courses in addition to actively supervising credential candidates. Her expertise is in public policy, bilingual education, and linguistics (particularly language acquisition and assessment).
Education
- PhD in Education, with an emphasis on policy studies in language and cross-cultural education, Claremont Graduate University & San Diego State University, January 2006.
- MA, Language and Cross-Cultural Education, with an outside emphasis in Linguistics, San Diego State University, December 1993
- Bachelor of Arts, English, University of California, Berkeley, May 1989
- Bilingual Authorization by examination June 28, 1997
- Multiple Subjects Authorization by examination May 3, 1997
- CLAD (Clear Cross-Cultural, Language and Academic Development) Certificate, San Diego State University, April 1996
- Single Subject Clear Credential, English, San Diego State University, June 1991
- Education using Spanish: Instituto Pablo VI. Completed 11th Grade in Cordoba, Argentina, 1984.
Background
My main interests are language, equity, and power in public policy. I am currently studying the implementation of and resistance to English-Only educational policies in a local school district. Additional interests include bilingual education, parent advocacy, assessment, language learning and language teaching. My teaching background is mainly in English Language Development. I have taught ELD and bilingual classes at the elementary, secondary, adult and college levels. In January and February of 2002, I did some assessment at Nestor's Dual Language Immersion School as part of a study by the Center for Applied Linguistics. The bilingual second graders there inspired me with a vision of what is possible when you have both quality and commitment to bilingual education for all students.
Projects, Grants and Research
- Ongoing research on policy implementation at the micro-political level: How administrators, teachers, parents, and community members interpret, enact, react, resist, and ultimately transform policy.
- Ongoing research with Natalie Kuhlman on bilingual journal writing in grades 1-5.
Publications
- Stone's Information Strategies as Micropolitics: A Socio-Ecology of Stakeholder Political Agency in the Implementation of Post-Proposition 227 Language Policies. (Doctoral dissertation, Claremont Graduate University and San Diego State University, 2006).
- Who Says? Dynamics of Post-Proposition 227 Language Policy in a California School -- 1998-2004. Chapter in Cadiero-Kaplan, K., et al., Eds. (2006). Literacy Ideology, Teachers' Beliefs, Language Policy and Parent Voice. Los Angeles: CABE.
- Beyond Books: Ethnographic Reading Case Study and Miscue Analysis -- unpublished manuscript
- Taking Baby Steps away from the Ivory Tower: Working with Communities Narratives/Narrativos, Fall 2000 Volume5.1
- Developing Writing Through Bilingual Journals. Grades 1-5 2000 TESOL Conference
- "Kids' Choices: Themes in Two-Way bilingual Journals" 1998 San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference.
- Bilingual Journals: Another Way to Assess Growth Sunshine State TESOL Journal Fall 1998 with Natalie Kuhlman
- Writing Development in Grades 1-5:Two-way Bilingual Instruction 1998 State CATESOL Conference. with Natalie Kuhlman
- California English Language Proficiency Assessment (CELPA) Project Literature Review CELPA Project, California Department of Education, 1998.
- Sueño o Fracaso: Inmigración en los Estados Unidos. talk given at Centro Cultural y Biblioteca Popular, June 18, 1997.
- Appearance on Charla (a talk show) to discuss the immigrant experience in California on the local television station in San Francisco, Argentina, June 18, 1997.
- "Language Experts: Fostering Interaction through Journals in a Dual Language Class" 1996 San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference.
- "Journal Writing in Grades 1-5: Profiles in Two Languages" 1996 State CATESOL Conference. with Natalie Kuhlman
- "Journal Writing: A Five Year Case Study of Two Bilingual Students" 1995 San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference.
- "Journal Writing in an Elementary Two-Way Bilingual Program" 1994 San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference. with Natalie Kuhlman
- "Of Course They Can Write: Bilingual 3rd Graders' Journals" 1994 State CATESOL Conference. with Natalie Kuhlman
- "How Bilingual Are They? Kids Writing in Journals" 1993 San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference.
- Why Juanito is Bilingual and Jane is Not. 1993 Master's Thesis at San Diego State University.
- Poems have been published in the U.C. Berkeley Department of Women's Studies collection Broad Topics (1989), in the San Luis Rey Choral collection The Music of Poetry (1997) and in the Carlsbad community collection McGee Park Poets Anthology (1993, 1994, 1996 and 2005).
Courses
- PLC 400 The Secondary School and Bilingual Education
- PLC 415 Fieldwork in the Bilingual Community Context (a writing intensive section)
- PLC 515 Bilingual Teaching Strategies (more accurately, Foundations of Bilingual Pedagogy)
- PLC 553 Language Assessment
- PLC 601 Bilingual Policy and Practices
- PLC 603 Community and Schools in a Diverse Society
- PLC 953 Language Issues in the Secondary School
Vitae
Available upon request: biliterate@gmail.com
Other Interests
In my time away from campus, I take care of my family, garden, teach piano, practice GoJu Karate, and read science fiction. My son is in middle school and I gain a lot of insight form my experiences as a parent. I am a member of the League of Women Voters, California Association of Bilingual Educators, and the California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, where I was 2008 Elementary Chair for CATESOL.